Being tiny hasn’t stopped New York City FC midfielder Maxi Moralez before.
At just 5-foot-3, Moralez surprisingly isn’t the shortest player in MLS. But the 30-year-old, who has played in Italy and most recently in Mexico with Club Leon, isn’t expecting anything new when it comes to players tossing him around.
“[MLS] is very physical league,” Moralez said at a community event in East Harlem last week. “Just like Italy, it’s very physical. My height has made me suffer, but I’ve faced a lot of tall people before. I want to be successful here.”
The league’s physicality always has been a talking point, but other short players such as Toronto FC forward Sebastian Giovinco and Real Salt Lake forward Joao Plata have used their small frames to their advantage.